Semi-acoustic electric guitar of the year

It looks beautiful, it plays like a dream and Elvis played on in the '68 Comeback Special - yep, the Hagstrom Viking Rex-Tone was hands down the best semi we saw this year.

That's no small feat in an incredibly crowded and competitive area of the market, but if you can get your hands on one of these you'll see why it came out on top instantly. Fantastic playability, a smorgasbord of tonal variety thanks to all those lovely switches, and a pair of smashing pickups meant that this King-approved beauty ruled in 2012.